Sunlight
by Twilight Zephyr
Summary: It's the end of the world as we know it. Vignettes and shorts about those who fight to save it. [Avengers Pacific Rim AU: Steve/Tony; Thor/Bruce; Clint/Coulson/Natasha]
1. never knowing (what could be)

**Notes:** Written for assistedrealityinterface and a tumblr prompt meme. Feel free to leave them in my ask box. Part of my Pacific Rim Avengers AU, feel free to submit prompts for it to me on my tumblr; I can't guarantee that I'll get to them immediately, but I will eventually.  
**Title:** never knowing (what could be)  
**Fandom:** The Avengers  
**Pairing:** Thor/Bruce  
**Words:** 1172 words  
**Prompt:** breathe again

**never knowing (what could be)**

The feeling of oxygen rushing back into his brain jerked Bruce back. There were still spots in his vision, but they were clearing and the iron bands that had been constricting his chest began to loosen. He took a deep, shaking breath and steadied himself; his harness helped and Bruce stumbled a little, falling into the Drift and Thor for support.

There was a growing pressure in the back of Bruce's head, but the fight took up his focus. _Lightning Echo _dodged under one of the kaiju's long, clawed arms and rammed her shoulder into it and then wrestled it down, locking it into a headlock and snapping its neck easily. They hadn't even needed to activate _Lightning_'s weapons systems.

With the kaiju down, the pressure kept growing in the back of Bruce's head, turning into a thundering headache. Bruce squeezed his eyes closed.

Maria Hill's voice blared over the coms, snapping Bruce to awareness, "Thor's oxygen's been cut. He's holding on for now, but barely. Get closer to the surface and we can extract you."

"R-right..." Bruce looked to Thor, who looked much paler than Bruce remembered. His features were drawn and his mouth was set in a tight line.

'_Will you be okay?_'

'_You're here. I'll be fine._' Despite the pain, the growing pressure in his chest to just _**breathe**_, Thor's steps didn't waver as _Lightning_ strode out of the depths of the Pacific and into shallower waters. Bruce could feel the strength of Thor's determination, even as he felt Thor's strength begin to wane; he wouldn't last much longer before he passed out.

Biting his lip, Bruce did the one thing he could think of. He focused on the times where Thor had smiled, the way it made his heart skip a beat and heat blossom in his cheeks. How... how much it had meant to him that Thor had stood up for him, had wanted to continue on as his co-pilot, how Thor focused him with his warmth and strength and given him something no one else had. Thor had given him a home.

The minutes ticked by, Thor had gasped for air that wasn't there and Bruce was feeling increasingly more light-headed. If they didn't make it soon, then both of them were going to pass out. Thor was slowly suffocating and Bruce could feel every second of it; it was hard to differentiate between Thor and him, it felt like he didn't have enough air.

It felt like forever until _Lightning_ crested the surface of the ocean. She stumbled until her shoulders were above the water and came to a stop. Bruce hit the emergency release for the escape hatch and then pulled his helmet off and disengaged himself from his harness.

Thor was slumped in his harness, his consciousness nothing more than a bright spark in Bruce's mind. He was barely holding onto consciousness.

Stumbling across the short distance that felt like several miles, Bruce sagged against Thor's harness. It took him several fumbling attempts to free Thor from it, and when he did, Thor swayed and stumbled forward, forcing Bruce to catch him.

Thor was heavy and Bruce wasn't particularly strong. The two of them went down hard, with Bruce taking the brunt of the fall. Nothing felt broken, but Bruce was sure he was going to be badly bruised.

He lay Thor down and wrenched his helmet off, cradling Thor's head in his lap as his still gloved and armoured fingers fanned out over his cheeks. Thor's eyes were half-lidded, the stormy blue of his eyes unfocused as he stared up at Bruce.

Thor was taking deep, shaking breaths as he tried to get more oxygen into his long deprived lungs. His face was still too pale for Bruce's liking. There was an emergency oxygen supply somewhere behind Bruce, but he didn't want to leave Thor. Words were tumbling out, Bruce couldn't tell if he was saying them out loud or through their gradually weakening Drift. Soon there would be nothing but the Ghosts.

"You didn't... _I'm here_... don't go... _you'll live_... stay with me."

Despite his weakening consciousness, Thor managed a small smile. A wave of emotions swept through Bruce, affection, reassurance, a strength that Bruce could never have himself, and the conviction that Thor would always be with Bruce. '_I could never leave you._'

When the helicopters reached them and _Lightning Echo_, Thor had passed out. His breathing was still shallow, but a little colour had returned to his cheeks. He was strapped into a stretcher after the two of them were pulled from _Lightning_'s cockpit and an oxygen mask placed over his nose and mouth. Bruce refused to leave his side the entire time.

His hands were tight around one of Thor's. When they returned to the base, they were swarmed by medical teams who kept trying to push Bruce away to get to Thor.

"Leave him be," Maria snapped, striding out onto the tarmac to meet them. "You should know by now not to separate two pilots. If you value your job, you'll leave him be."

There was a flurry of activity to get Thor out of the armour of his drivesuit and the circuitry suit underneath. Bruce had enough mind about him to let the technicians do the same to him, blindly accepting the clothes which were pressed into his hands. He stumbled after Thor, who was settled into one of the infirmary rooms, and collapsed onto the chair at his bedside.

The steady beep-beep of the heart monitor and the soft whir of machines filled the silence. Thor's chest chose and fell in a comforting rhythm, but Bruce couldn't look away from his face.

At the back of his mind, Thor was a comforting and silent presence. Curled up without any dreams, Bruce at least knew he was safe and alive. He concentrated on that.

Maria Hill entered the hospital room several hours later, a deep furrow between her brows. For a few minutes, she simply stood in silence behind Bruce, standing vigil over Thor.

"He just needs to rest, but he'll make a full recovery," Maria said. She didn't look at Bruce as she spoke, still staring at Thor, "He gave you his oxygen line after yours was cut. We're looking into better reinforcing them. For now, rest. _War Machine_ is on standby should anything happen."

Bruce nodded. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and his eyes were burning from exhaustion. Breathing was like dragging his throat along sandpaper, but still he didn't leave his place at Thor's bedside.

Carefully, Maria nudged his chair closer to the bed and draped a blanket over his shoulder. When Bruce looked at her, she had a small smile on her face.

"Debrief is whenever you're ready," she said. "The doctors will let us know when he wakes up. Until then, you're not expected to be anywhere else."

"... thank you."

She nodded, "I'll have someone bring you some water and something to eat."

When Maria left, she pulled the privacy curtain across the entranceway. Bruce could hear her exchanging quiet words with one of the medical staff members, but tuned it out.

The countdown was on.

**FIN.**


	2. fight fear (worth it every time)

**Notes:** Written for assistedrealityinterface and a tumblr prompt meme. Feel free to leave them in my ask box.  
**Title:** fight fear (worth it every time)  
**Fandom:** The Avengers  
**Pairing:** Steve/Tony; implied Thor/Bruce  
**Words:** 1297 words  
**Prompt:** questioning

**fight fear (worth it every time)**

One thing that Tony hadn't expected was that Bruce was going to come to him after his pretty disastrous first Drift with Thor – well, that wasn't entirely true. He'd figured Bruce would come, but he'd thought it would be for reassurance – because Steve and he nearly tore through the entirety of the Shatterdome their first time in a Jaeger together and chased the R.A.B.I.T. – and not that Bruce would be coming to him about the Ghosts.

Steve's a comforting presence in his mind; mingling with his and Tony's not always sure where his mind ends and Steve's begins, because Steve is always just _**there**_. He's this comforting warmth and strength that acts like a lightning rod for Tony's thoughts that are always running a mile a minute. Steve's the calm island at the centre of Tony's maelstrom; they work best like that.

The Ghosts have always been strong, even days after a Drift. They've only gotten stronger. Thoughts. Words. Concepts. It's always fragmented but they know each other so well, so intimately, that it's hard to tell what's being said out loud and what's passing between them.

Bruce comes in, shy and nervous, and asks about the Ghosts. Tony's never really liked to talk about them; they're personal and something that he and Steve share alone. Tony's selfish and doesn't want to let anyone else have it.

But Bruce looks so terrified and nervous that Tony opens his mouth anyway.

"It's sort of like a constant feedback loop," Tony says. "Steve's the more grounded one, so I sort of revolve around that – I don't think a lot of people would want to share headspace with me, but that's kind of what it is. He's a part of me and I'm a part of him and that's actually really creepy but it's hard to put into words, you know?"

"Was it always like that?" Bruce shifts from foot to foot. He's got the look on his face of someone who's distracted by something and there are questions bubbling up but Tony squashes them down. Now's not the time for that.

"Not at first. But the more often we Drifted and the more stable our Neural Handshake was, the stronger it got and it's always going to be stronger right after a Drift, but now it's sort of settled into this weird stability of a feedback loop. There's a lot of words, concepts. We don't necessarily get emotions, but that's kind of not needed when he knows me so well and I know him."

"So it's... more telepathic than empathic?"

"Something like that; if you want to talk about really empathic Ghosts, then you'd wanna talk to_Blackhawk_'s command crew cause that's more what theirs are like. You know, we all traded notes just to see, but the Ghosts are pretty different. Rhodey's not Ghosting with Sif very much, they've just got vague impressions – or that's what they say, at least."

Bruce bites his lip and looks down; his eyes keep flicking to the side, like he's arguing with himself. Tony nudges him, setting aside the tablet that he's been tinkering with some of _Glory_'s code on.

"Okay, you gotta spill cause this isn't just coming out of sheer scientific curiosity."

Tony really wishes he had a camera on hand, because Bruce looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi; wide eyes and looking like he's about to bolt for the safest place he can think of that is anywhere then where Tony is.

"I... I can feel Thor," Bruce says, in a rush. He gestures at his head, "I can feel him and sometimes I can hear him; it's not always clear unless I concentrate or he's deliberate about it, but he's just... _**there**_. I didn't – I wasn't sure – is that normal?"

Tony does a tally in his head of the hours since their Drift. It's been over twelve. The Ghosts should've started to fade by now.

"Is it any weaker now than it was earlier?"

"N-no, it's been consistent. I mean, it's nothing like the Drift, but he's just _**there**_ and sometimes I get vague impressions of what he's doing."

Tony's not stupid, he's done the research and the reading. He knows that Ghosting isn't really something that's really understood other than that it's a consequence of Drifting and the stronger the Neural Handshake, often the more potent the Ghosting. But it's never the same experience for any pair of co-pilots and it's not something they like to talk about.

But he knows that if Thor and Bruce are Ghosting already, after one Drift, and they're still so strong even after twelve hours, that it's promising. They're probably the most compatible team they've got on hand now. It's a good start, and Tony knows that they shouldn't be grounded indefinitely (and they won't be, because Thor's the strongest candidate they've had since Steve and he's proven to be infinitely more difficult to find compatible partners with, so Bruce is fucking lucky).

Tony also knows that Bruce is afraid and unsure and doesn't feel like he should be a part of this. All of them are too aware of how Marshall Ross had treated Bruce before he'd been transferred to them – oh sure, no one talked about it, but most of them knew, or at least had some idea.

The man should be glad he's a continent away and doesn't have to face down one pissed off Thor. And he wouldn't be alone, because Bruce is completely endearing to almost everyone he meets and the other pilots all like him a lot.

Taking a deep breath, Tony just says, "It's not bad. If you're Ghosting already and it's still that strong, then it's a good thing – means you're really compatible. Ghosting's pretty useful when you're trying to make a steady Neural Handshake."

"What–? I nearly blew up the Shatterdome!"

"And Steve and I nearly tore through it the first time we Dropped," Tony says simply. He picks his tablet up again; there's footage somewhere and he could show Bruce, but that might be too soon. "We both chased the R.A.B.I.T that first time and there was no one to pull either of us back until they pulled the plug and emergency shut downs. _War Machine_ had to hold us back otherwise we would've destroyed the entire thing."

For several long moments, there's silence. Bruce has his hands tightly clenched in fists on his lap while he stares at the floor. He doesn't say anything for the longest time.

"Thor pulled me back," Bruce says, softly. "He broke through it somehow and pulled me back. But... I'm afraid that if we do try again... that I won't be able to come back and I'll drag him into it."

Tony snorts, "You're selling yourself short; you're a lot stronger than you think you are. And Thor's certainly not gonna let you just give up now. The guy's already sworn that he's not gonna let anyone else be his co-pilot but you."

That takes Bruce by surprise. He snaps his mouth closed with an audible click and looks away, but Tony notices that his cheeks are a lot redder than they were a few seconds ago. Tony just smiles and scrolls through _Glory_'s code until he finds the area that he was tweaking and sets back to work.

"Honestly Bruce, you shouldn't worry too much about the Ghosting – it's a good sign. If Drifting was easy, everyone would do it and we might know a lot more about it. But we don't. You should just go with it. Things'll get easier with more training and experience. You'll see."

Tony really hopes he doesn't have to eat those words, but if the read-outs are anything to go by, well, they've got one more perfect Jaeger team to add to their corner. The kaiju don't stand a chance.

**FIN.**


	3. see the way to fire

**Notes:** Written for andonedayshewillexplode and a tumblr prompt meme. Feel free to leave them in my ask box. This is part of my Avengers Pacific Rim AU.  
**Title:** see the way to fire  
**Fandom:** The Avengers  
**Pairing:** Thor/Bruce  
**Words:** 485 words  
**Prompt:** last hope

**see the way to fire**

Thor slid a hand behind Bruce's neck, cupping it as his other arm slid under Bruce's thighs and hauled him up and against him. At the same moment, he caught Bruce's lips with his own, kissing him hard as he pushed him back up against the door of his quarters. His large hand smoothed down Bruce's back, joining the other at Bruce's hips to hold him up even as he wedged one knee between Bruce's legs.

A moan slipped past Bruce's lips, his own hands clinging desperately at Thor's shoulders. He reached up, tangling his fingers in Thor's hair and pulled him close; arching up to achieve as much contact as possible.

Their Ghosts were creating a feedback loop. Bruce didn't just feel the way that Thor gripped his hips, but felt the rough fabric of his shirt, the elastic of his waistband. He could feel lust, love, desperation all feeding into him just as he felt them himself. It was such a strange feeling; his own emotions bleeding into Thor's just as Thor's bled into him until he couldn't tell where his began and Thor's ended.

Tomorrow would decide everything. They would throw everything they had at the Rift all in an effort to see that _War Machine_ could successfully deliver her nuclear payload through the Rift and destroy them all. Tomorrow would decide the fate of the world.

Bruce arched up, pressing one kiss after another to Thor's lips as he pushed himself up against him. Thor's chest was firm and he was warm, so warm; Bruce was reminded of the Drift, of Thor's golden presence calling to Bruce, soothing him and banishing his darkness.

"We can't go farther than this," Bruce managed between kisses. "You know we can't... tomorrow."

"We shall need all our strength," Thor agreed, burying his face against Bruce's neck. He didn't move from where he had Bruce pinned against the wall, hands firm like iron bands around Bruce's hips. "But I will not go into battle without the taste of you on my tongue. If it is to be my last, then so be it. If we are to die, then we die together."

"Don't say that," Bruce murmured fiercely, clutching at Thor's face as he pressed his forehead against his. "We're going to make it. We're going to win this, you hear me? We're going to win this."

Thor grinned up at him beneath his lashes, "So we shall. We shall claim victory on the morrow. No matter what we might face, we shall defeat it. And claim our victory."

Smiling, Bruce kissed him, "To our victory."

With his grin turning to a smirk, Thor caught Bruce's bottom lip with his teeth – nipping it. "And when we claim victory... I shall claim your willing submission as well."

Sucking his lip into his mouth, Bruce smiled, his arms around Thor's neck and he relaxed in his hold. His head fell back and he murmured, "And you'll have it."

**FIN.**


End file.
